Party of Regions blocks session

Demands minister resignation

Deputies of the Party of Regions have been blocking the work of Ukrainian parliament for the second day running, demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, Itar-Tass reported.

“Our position has not changed. We will not let the parliament work until the issue of Lutsenko is settled,” Party of Regions member Mikhail Chechetov told reporters on Wednesday.

Besides, deputies say they will keep blocking parliament work not just until the issue of the resignation is put to vote, “but until the decision on the minister’s resignation is made,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc seeks to set up a temporary parliamentary investigation commission to look into the incident with the interior minister at an airport in Germany. Prior to that, Lutsenko also met with deputies from the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defence bloc, where he said the setting up of the investigation commission would be the way out of the conflict situation.

Foreign media earlier reported that Lutsenko passed half a day on May 4 at a police station at the Frankfurt-am-Main airport. Drunken Lutsenko was detained after an alleged quarrel with policemen, foreign media outlets reported. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry rejected some media reports about the conflict involving Lutsenko.

On Tuesday, Lutsenko asked the Supreme (Verkhovna) Rada to vote for his resignation. President Viktor Yushchenko considers this appeal as “a logical step, which should be made”. “There was an incident which damaged the reputation of the state, the government and the minister himself. It must be settled with due regard for the interests of the nation and the country,” Yushchenko said.